City staff told to build more \u2018front-end\u2019 education into Surrey\u2019s stop-work order process<\/p>\n
Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, April 29, 2026<\/p>\n
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke has asked city staff to review Surrey\u2019s stop-work orders and building permitting process with the aim to provide council with \u201cmore balanced\u201d enforcement that protects public safety \u201cwhile treating residents reasonably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intent of this motion is not to weaken the building safety standards,\u201d she said before council approved it on April 27. \u201cIt is to make sure our system is fair, is understandable and focused on helping people to the right thing before we move to enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Doug Elford noted that building inspectors are bound by law, and questioned the legal framework around this.<\/p>\n
Locke noted building permits \u201care very important\u201d as they exist to \u201cprotect the public, ensure proper construction standards and give residents confidence that the work that is being done is being done correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, she said, she and fellow council members are also concerned about the number of stop-work orders being posted in <\/a>Surrey<\/a>. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say we have too many stop-work orders, but I think the challenge for some people is how to move forward once they get that stop-work order, how do they remedy it.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the idea is for city hall to provide more \u201cfront-end\u201d education.<\/p>\n \u201cIn many cases residents may not fully understand the permitting requirements. They may find the process difficult to navigate or may not realize that certain renovation or construction work requires City approval before the work begins,\u201d Locke told council.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal should always be compliance first, and I believe it is, and we should be helping residents understand the rules, obtain the proper permits and bring their projects into compliance wherever possible. Stop-work orders should remain available as an enforcement tool but they should not be the City\u2019s first response in every situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor noted that when there is an \u201cimmediate and serious\u201d safety concern city hall must act \u201cquickly and decisively.\u201d But when the issue isn\u2019t life-threatening, she said, she believes city hall should take a more \u201cpractical, education-based and compliance-oriented approach before escalating to enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Locke through her motion instructed city staff to consider if, after a homeowner has been cited for illegal construction, city hall can refer them to a roster of qualified professionals who can help them understand Surrey\u2019s requirements, navigate the permitting process and bring their work into compliance as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n The approved motion directs city staff to review Surrey\u2019s current building permit, bylaw compliance and stop-work order process and report back to council with recommendations to create a \u201cmore customer-focused and compliance-based approach,\u201d Locke said, \u201cthat will improve public education and communication around when building permits are required.\u201d<\/p>\n She also wants the permitting process made easier for property owners and residents to understand and navigate, as well as for city staff to prioritize voluntary compliance and corrective action \u201cbefore enforcement where there is no immediate life safety risk and ensure stop-work orders are used immediately where work creates a serious life safety concern or where a property owner repeatedly refuses to comply with the City requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City staff told to build more \u2018front-end\u2019 education into Surrey\u2019s stop-work order process Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,163792,87674],"class_list":["post-637331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-lower-mainland","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}